Monday, October 19, 2015

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Whirlwind #2

Early in the morning we flew from KL, Malaysia, to Siem
Reap, Cambodia. Before boarding the
plane, I was politely asked if I was pregnant. When pregnant, they are thorough
in getting a Dr’s note in order to fly.
I quickly informed the airline attendant, that I was NOT pregnant. He apologized and walked away. It was a quick 2 hour flight, but we lost one
hour of time, which I didn’t realize there was a time change. We arrived in Cambodia and made our way
quickly thru immigration and customs. We
had registered online with the Cambodian Government for an evisa, which meant
we could skip the “visa on arrival” line, and head straight to immigration. We only had to wait on our bags, which didn’t
take terribly long since it was a small airport. After exiting we quickly found our Tuk Tuk
driver from our hotel, and we were loaded in with our bags and off to our
hotel.

Again, the scenery was so similar to Central America. Scooters piled with 3, 4, 5 people filled the
roads. Tuk Tuks pulled by scooters were
everywhere. We were soon at our hotel,
where we met our friends, Cody and Caureen.
We promptly checked into the hotel, and then asked for a Tuk Tuk to
drive us to church. I pulled up the church
address to show them, but they seemed slightly confused. The Tuk Tuk driver said he thought he knew
where to go, but after a mile or so it seemed we were headed in the wrong
direction from the map, so we stopped to correct the driver, and a few minutes
later we arrived at Church, only a few minutes late.

The branch was a good size, the kids were adorable. The Young men passing the sacrament looked to
be about 8 years old. Wearing white
shirts and ties, they were reverent in their duties, and were surely the
appropriate age of 12. The speakers
today were 3 young members, soon to be leaving on missions. 2 to Cambodia, and
1 to Salt Lake City. They were all very
excited to be leaving to serve the Lord.
A Sister Missionary translate the meeting for us thru wireless
headsets. We spoke with her after the
meeting and she is from Australia, and friends with a family that Cody baptized
as a missionary. Small world.

After Church we went back to the hotel and made plans to
tour the area that afternoon and tomorrow.
We called a member of the branch, that I had found online, who is a driver
for the area. He called us a tour guide
and they both met us about 1pm at our hotel.
Meanwhile we took a Tuk Tuk to nearby Pub street to grab some local
Cambodian food for lunch.

Mr. Loy was our driver, but he did not speak that much
English. Sokky was our Guide, and he
spoke good English. We asked him if we
could do a Sunrise tour in the morning, and this afternoon see some other
sights. So he suggested we start with
Ankgor Thom. He explained to us much
about the area. There are over 200
temples in the area, hundreds of Km square.
He explained to us they were built during the Angkor period, around 1100
AD. Angkor means city, and Wat means
temple. What is known as Angkor Wat
specifically describes only one temple, the largest, most complete temple in
the area. But the entire area was
designated a UNESCO site and is known as Angkor Wat, even though there are
hundreds of temples and cities in the area, known by other names, such as
Ankgor Thom.

He also explained that when the people first came to the
area and built these cities and Temples they were of the Hindu Belief. But then they were influenced by traders, and
became Budhists. It wasn’t a hard switch
for them. So the cities and Temples
built before 1180 were decorated in the Hindu style for the Hindu Gods, and
after 1180 they were built in the Budha style, with Budha’s face everywhere. Some of the older Temples were also
“remodeled” in the Buddha style as well, and added Buddha’s face. Either way the carvings in the stone towers
and walls are beautiful.

Angkor Thom, where we started Saturday afternoon, was built
after 1180, and in the Buddhist style. While
it wasn’t the largest city during the time, it was the most complete. The city wall was still in place, and the
entry gates. The Temple, Bayon, has 5
towers with Buddha’s face carved into each one.
It wasn’t that crowded, I know we were a bit on the low season, but
Sokky also said most people see Angkor Thom in the morning. The light is better then, but it was just
fine while we were there, but I’m not a professional photographer. He said most people see Angkor Wat in the
afternoon, or the sunrise tour—which is when we will be there, tomorrow. Monkey’s roam the grounds of the temples. They walk the walls, roofs, grounds. I’m sure they know more about this place than
we do.

After touring Angkor Thom we stopped to book dinner at a
cultural theater for that evening. After
cleaning up at the hotel—really it was rinsing the layers of sweat off. Have I mentioned how hot it is here? It is hot and humid. More so then the islands
in the Caribbean, but we are closer to the equator here. Just a
few minutes outside and I am dripping in sweat.
But it is worth it. The
experience of seeing the history of ancient civilizations and experiencing a
new environment is worth a little sweating.

That evening we enjoyed a local buffet at the theater and
watched a fun cultural show. But we were
exhausted. The traveling and long day
visiting the temples wiped us out, so by the end of the show we were struggling
to stay awake. We left before the final
dance ended.

The next morning we were up and going before 6am. The hotel had prepared a take away breakfast for
us, and we were off to see the Sunrise over Angkor Wat. We weren’t alone, more and more people lined
the pond across from the temple to see the Sunrise thru the towers of the
Temple. Soon the sun was up and Caureen
had purchased her first souvenir from an artist drawing and painting there in
the field. Once the other roaming
vendors saw that she had made a purchase, they crowded around offering their
items as well. Sokky guided us away, to the ruins of an Angkor Library. There we sat and ate our breakfast and looked
over the ruins of Angkor Wat.

After breakfast we headed into the Temple to explore and
learn about the history. On the walls
are carvings, recording the history of the people and their beliefs. The history learned from the walls is still taught in schools today. The wall carvings use to be in full color, but the colors have all faded over time and due to the elements of the earth, only a hint of red is left in some areas on the walls. Sokky taught us that the Temples were only
used for religious ceremonies. While the
King and the people lived within the city, they did not live in the Temples,
they only worshipped there, and held religious ceremonies there.

The Temple of Angkor Wat is still used for religious
purposes today. To enter the highest
towers you must be dressed with clothing passed the knee, and your shoulders
covered. We met these requirements and
were able to climb the steep steps to the highest level. People still bring offerings to the temples
and leave them behind.

After touring Angkor Wat, our next stop was Ta Prohm. This Temple is unique in that when they
started restorations on it, they left the trees that had overgrown the area,
and overgrown the temples. It has a very
explorer in the Jungle feel, and reminds me of visiting the Mayan Temple Coba
in Mexico which is also left overgrown by the Jungle. In fact visiting the Angkor Temples reminds
me a lot of visiting the Mayan Ruins throughout Mexico and Guatemala. So many similarities. I find it interesting that people across the
world with limited communication means build similar Temples to their God, for
similar reasons.

Ta Prohm was also used in the film Lara Croft, Tomb
Raider. We enjoyed walking through the
temple ruins and in seeing the beauty that has been created as nature took its
course.

Ta Prohm wasn’t just surrounded by nature, it also had some
very persistent vendors, both women and children. They followed us from the Temple exit to the
Bathrooms, anxiously waiting outside, and then blocked our way as we tried to
head for our van. They were persistently
offering their products, Elephant pants, bracelets, or books. As we turned them down, the little girl said
to Cody “don’t you like me?” So he gave her a dollar. It didn’t matter that we had purchased a book
from them when we arrived at the Temple.
I think having purchased something only spurred them on to try to sell
us more. After making our way thru the
blockade, we climbed in the van and were off to a new Temple.

This time we were headed to the Pink Sandstone Temple. The rest of the 200 or so Temples in the area
were built out of a grey Sandstone, but this Temple was made of Pink
Sandstone. It is one of the smallest
built and one of the oldest, possible the first built in the area, not long
after the Angkor’s arrived in the area.
They have not found the quarry where the pink sandstone came from, so
they are a little confused as to where it came from. They have found quarries that have 100 meter
deep pits, with similar properties, but not exact matches. SO they are still looking.

Another interesting thing about this Temple is its
preservation. It became overrun with
Termites and the foundation of the Temple was destroyed and the Temple sunk
down. When the French found it, it was
covered in Termite mounds and because of this much of the Temple and its
carvings were preserved. You can see the
carvings are deeper with sharper details.
You can also see ancient Khmer writing in the walls. The writings are visually beautiful. Sokky told us this was his favorite Temple,
and I have to agree, it is beautiful.
Since it was one of the first built, it was built before 1180 AD, and
therefore is a Hindu Temple and had multiple carvings of their different
Gods.

By this time it was the lunch hour, but it felt later. We had seen so much having started at
sunrise. Sokky took us to a restaurant
for lunch, where we invited him and our driver, Mr. Lucky, to join us for
lunch.

From here we asked to go see the floating village a little south
of Siem Reap on the Lake. It is the 19th
largest fresh water lake in the world, and is lined with multiple floating
villages. We boarded a long tail boat to ride down the river to see the
village. We had our own boat, and the
son of the boat owner approached David and began massaging his shoulders. David tried to decline, but this little 10
year old was persistent. After a few
minutes he asked for $1. David gave him
the remaining Khmer dollars we had, it totaled about 50 cents USD. We didn’t have any single dollars left. The boy saw the $20 US bill david had, and
pointed to it with a big smile, but then finally took the Khmer money he was
offered. He then moved over to Cody and
attempted to give him a shoulder massage.
Cody quickly pulled out a $1 to end it.

The fisherman and their families that live in the floating villages
are poor. Most of the “homes” were the
size of a large shed. With the constant
heat, the side of each shed towards the water was open so we could easily see
in to each tiny home. Each home is floating on the water, most on top of empty
barrels. When the water level would rise
or lower, the homes can be moved closer to the lake or towards land. They just tie them up to trees along the
shoreline. There were many children around, playing in
their homes, or on their boats, or swimming.
The village even had a few schools and churches. Sokky told us that several of the families
are illegal immigrants from Vietnam, you could tell their homes apart. The Vietnamese filled their homeswith
colorful decorations inside, filled with bright colors. The church signs and schools differentiated
these 2 cultures. One of the school
signs, written in English, explained that this School had both Khmer and
Vietnamese, but they were “2 different schools, don’t mistake.” The translation was interesting.

On the way back to Siem Reap we stopped at an art center to
see how a few of the local crafts were made.
They grow silk here in Cambodia and it was interesting to see the
different products made with Silk. David
and Cody enjoyed watching in the metal center and the wood carving.

It was a long, great day.
As we returned to our hotel we settled our bill with Sokky. Hiring a private guide was fairly
inexpensive, especially split between the 4 of us. And yet it is considered a great job here in
Siem Reap. Sokky told us of the
training, and then tests he had to take to become a licensed guide. It required both written and oral tests and a
lot of training and studying, along with learning English, or one of the other
common languages of the world. He has a degree from a University to be a
teacher, but he prefers being a certified guide. He said the pay was better and he liked
meeting different people every day. The
cost for our private van with wonderful AC and ice cold water bottles kept
ready for us was $40 per day. Sokky, our
guide charged $35 per day. There were a few extra charges, $5 more to each for
starting at sunrise, and then another $5 to cover gas out to the Floating
Village. The Khmer currency is linked to
the USD, so using the dollar there is common place, you can even get USD from
the ATM’s. We so enjoyed Sokky and all
his insight that we wanted to tip him.
Of course, this sort of thing is the norm in our part of the world, but
not here in Asia. As we handed him his
payment, he insisted we overpaid him. To which we explained that we enjoyed his
services so much that we wanted to give him extra. Well worth every penny for all that we
learned and the convenience in which we saw it.

That evening we again walked around the market and
restaurant area of Siem Reap. We picked
up a few souvenirs and enjoyed the local dishes, each ordering something
different to share. As we walked around
we stopped for some ice cream, and I loved my Ginger and black sesame
flavor.

The next morning we were excited to sleep in a little and
rest up before our next whirlwind. By
10am we were packed and headed to the airport for our flight to Bangkok… the
mini whirlwind.

2 comments:

Hello, we are LDS, have 6 kids, and are planning living aboard a sailboat in the Carribean and /or Mexico, Central and South America. We are in the planning stages and would really love to talk with you. I'm wondering if there is a way to private message you or get your email?

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About Me

Our Family of 9 loves to travel. David and Jenn, and our 7 children- Savannah, Calvin, Isabel, Benjamin, Matthew, Alexander and Julia. Often we are found exploring the Caribbean by boat, but we also love a good road trip at home or train trip abroad. We love to see new sites, meet new people, and learn new things.